On Call
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "So, did you make a move on Teddy last night?" "You keep your damned mouth shut. You're lucky I didn't hex you for bringing him over whilst I was dressed like that." "More like undressed," he snorted, cutting up his sausages. "Oh don't look at me like that Forester, I'm sure Teddy appreciated getting flashes of your thigh beneath your bathrobe."
1. On Call

Unwinding after work was always one of my favourite parts of the day. Sure I loved being with my patients and tending to them, especially because I'd long learned that often the patients needed a Healer who treated them as human and not just as a list of symptoms that needed to be fixed. My patients made my day better, but they did nothing to help me recover from a daily 10-hour shift. It was only when I got home and could shrug out of my uniform where I stood, shedding the layers like a snake around the flat as I made my way to the shower that I could feel the stress lift off of me with every piece of clothing.

After a long shower that fogged up the bathroom, I bound my hair in a towel and changed into fresh underwear, forgoing the bra and slipping into my fuzzy, floor length bathrobe. Stepping into my comfortable house slippers, I dragged them along the floor with each step and contented in the gentle scraping sound each motion brought forward; it was so different to the rapid beeping, and often loud voices of the hospital. Walking into the kitchen, I put the kettle on to make myself a cup of tea. Humming under my breath, I quickly made myself a cup and took the first sip, even though it scalded my tongue. Cradling the mug in my hand, I breathed out a deep sigh, expelling the last of my stress and letting myself sink against the counter.

But only for a moment. Turning to face the cupboard, I addressed the shift schedule I'd stuck onto the door with a simple sticking charm. I had to check, just to be certain, that I did in fact have tomorrow off and relieved that I hadn't gotten that messed up, I took another long sip. Putting my cup down, I opened the cupboard to fish out the biscuit tin when my floo activated in the living room.

Dropping my heels to the floor with a sigh, I looked at the time; it could only be one person. Only James bloody Sirius Potter would intrude in my unwinding process without so much as a single message to tell me that he was coming. Tightening the belt of my bathrobe around me, I stormed into the front room with the biscuit tin still in my hand and ready to give him a piece of my mind.

Only -

The sight that greeted me in the front room had me stilling. It was James, but he stood slumped heavily against Teddy Lupin and - Helga, just James bringing Teddy here was enough to have me contemplating hexing him. My eyes flickered around the room, horrified that my clothes were still strewn around the room because I'd been planning on picking them up after my tea and after I'd changed in my pyjamas. This wasn't fair!

I looked back to James, ready to tell him off, and I would have if he wasn't looking at me from beneath eyes that were so swollen he could barely open them. My eyes flickered over my best friend, cataloguing each of his injuries as I shifted into Healer mode, no longer caring about the state of my room, or how I was partially dressed, or even how Teddy flipping Lupin was in my home.

Wordlessly, I set aside the biscuit tin that I'd realised I was clutching as a shield on the windowsill. Silently summoning my wand into one of my hands, I couldn't even bring myself to look at Teddy as I motioned to my sofa, "Put him there, please."

Teddy obliged, thankfully without a single remark about the state of my home. This would have been so embarrassing if I wasn't so concerned about how much obvious pain James was in. I approached him, hissing when the towel slipped slightly and sharp pain burst on my scalp from the hair that was being pulled. Removing my towel, I chucked it somewhere without looking where it landed - I'd pick it up when I picked up the rest.

Approaching James and Teddy, I looked over him and realised he was breathing in shallowly like each breath took too much effort. Assisting Teddy with manoeuvring James, I asked, "What happened to him?"

"This idiot got into a bar fight," Teddy finally said, as I cast a diagnostic spell over him.

"I'm not even going to ask what caused the bar fight."

Apologetically, Teddy started, "I'd have taken him to the emergency room but he insisted."

"Why bother waiting for hours when my best friend's a Healer? Right Forester?" James spoke up, trying to give me a warm smile through his pain.

"I've told you to stop doing this to me," I complained, shooting him a warning look even as I kneeled over him. "Couldn't you at least have given me half an hour so I could've changed into pyjamas and tidied up?"

"Oh, Teddy doesn't mind." Reminded of the third person in the room, I ducked my head and subtly peeked at him from the corner of my eye. "Right, Ted?"

Teddy from where he perched on the arm of the sofa looking over his godbrother with concern simply said, "I think he's broken a rib or something."

"He has," I confirmed, summoning the healing kit I kept in my front room because of the number of times James had sought me out to heal him.

Silently I got to work, beginning with James's broken rib. There was nothing said, except for when James refused to take a potion dosage and the silence was broken by murmured threats (from me) and gentle encouragement (from Teddy). With his rib dealt with, I worked on James's burgeoning black eye, his bloodied knuckles and what looked like a gash caused by a broken shard of glass.

Once I was finished, I packed away my healing kit and looked over James who, now that his pain had receded, and after being found negative for a concussion, was slipping into the early stages of sleep. Rising to my feet, I found myself standing under Teddy's eyes - I would've called the way he was looking at me softly - but I knew that was my own internal bias. Still, I fidgeted with the kit and planned to kill James tomorrow when he was recovered. The utter asshole knew how mortified I would be with him bringing Teddy to my home given the state it was in.

"I - um," clearing my throat, I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye. Lifting a hand to my still damp hair, I fidgeted with it. "Sorry about the mess, I was in the middle of unwinding and -"

"I don't mind," he insisted, making me finally look at him. He offered me a smile - Merlin, it was unfair that someone's smile could make my knees want to buckle - and insisted, "I'm just sorry we had to intrude."

"It's fine." Waving a dismissive hand, I gestured to a passed out James, "This happens at least once a month so I should begin to expect it, really."

"Right." Teddy rocked back on his heels like he was searching for something to say.

"You don't have to worry about James - he's used to crashing on that sofa. I need to check on him tomorrow, anyway. Do you - want some tea or something? I'd boiled the kettle just before you arrived?"

"Oh no," he said with a shake of his head, already backing towards the fireplace. Holding his eyes, I maintained my expression even as I cursed myself internally for getting my hopes up. "I don't want to intrude, I think I should get going. But thanks again for tonight and I'm really sorry."

"It's alright," I said simply, watching as he clambered into the fireplace and headed away. I waited just until Teddy had disappeared from sight and dropped my head. "Idiot. I'm an absolute idiot."

Shaking my head, I set about finally cleaning up my things and gathered all my dirty laundry in my hands. As I prepared to head into my room to fish out some more dirty clothes from the laundry basket. On the way out of the front room, I passed James who slept with one leg hanging off the sofa and in my way.

"Twat." Feeling vindictive, I kicked his leg on the way past him. He didn't so much as flinch. "You utter twat."

* * *

I was greeted, the very next morning, by a sign of the apocalypse; James in my kitchen, making me breakfast. Without work pushing me out of bed at a ridiculous time, I let myself have a lie-in and sometime whilst I slept in, James had woken up by himself and helped himself to whatever he wanted as if he hadn't appeared in my apartment in the middle of the night and as if he hadn't been recovering on my sofa.

"Morning Forester," James said with a charming smile, looking at me from over his shoulder before returning to the eggs he was frying in the pan. He gestured with the spatula to the plates of food he was assembling. "Breakfast is on me."

"How can it be on you if you're using my food?" I started pointedly, walking around him and beginning to work on making us some coffee. "You better not be planning on paying me back for healing you by poisoning me."

"Oh haha." I could hear him rolling his eyes even without looking up from the coffee tin that I'd fished out from the cupboard.

Adding creamer and sugar to his coffee and leaving mine black, I picked up both mugs and walked towards James. Setting James's mug onto the countertop, I propped myself up behind the cooker. Taking a small sip, I looked over his face, cataloguing how his eyes had healed up and satisfied, I looked at his knuckles and where his gash had been. Outwardly, he'd healed perfectly. Reaching out towards James, I poked him between the ribs he'd broken. It was perhaps a little vindictive and spiteful, but remembering what he'd put me through yesterday, I didn't feel so bad.

"It's healed," James insisted, knowing that I was checking on him. Lifting the pan, he put the eggs on each plate and I tried not to make a face; why did he always make a fry up? He didn't think it was too oily to have in the morning, but I certainly did. And I was certain that he used visiting me as an excuse for eating all the fried food - claiming that because he was under the care of a Healer, the team dietician had little they could complain about. "It's healed, but just a little bruised."

"That is the least you deserve."

Smiling warmly even in the face of my irritation, he waved his wand at the plates and levitated them to go to the table. He even sent an empty mug and the coffee pot to the table. Perhaps too late I realised that James had assembled three plates of food. But I didn't question it too much, knowing first hand just how much food James was capable of putting away if he was hungry. I followed James out of the kitchen, eyes narrowed on his back.

"Could you please stop getting yourself into these situations? I don't care if it's bar fights or even a bloody splinter, just stop coming to me to fix you afterwards." Eyes narrowed and knowing how quickly I could gear up into telling him off if I really wanted to, I forced myself to tone it down. "You're lucky I'm not giving you the spiel about being a public figure and getting into these fights - I'm going to leave that to your family."

"Well," he started in a tone that already had me sighing as I took a seat at the table, "what's the point in being friends with a Healer if I can't come to you whenever I need a little healing?"

"You need to sort yourself out." When he only grinned innocently, settling down across from me, I reached out to kick him so harshly he winced. Leaning down and rubbing at his knee, James still didn't have the sense to look contrite. "I mean it - focus on your career, on quidditch and not on women. A woman, rather."

Shaking his head sharply, and the smile finally leaving his face, he declared, "I'm not talking about this."

"Come on James." I sighed, trying not to shake my own head. "We need to talk about this; the woman you're in love with is engaged. The engagement's been splashed on the front of all the newspapers - don't pretend that's not what the bar fight was about."

"We're not doing this," he said simply. I should've known that the bloody twat would do tit for tat; that because I'd bought up his affection that he would do that same. It was a cowardly dodging tactic, one very not Gryffindor and he only used it because he was so hurt over his own messy love life that he needed to choose the subject that would get me to quit pressuring him. "So, did you make a move on Teddy last night?"

"You keep your damned mouth shut," I warned, pointing my fork at him before stabbing my sunny side up eggs to pierce the yolk. "You're lucky I didn't hex you for bringing him over whilst I was dressed like that."

"More like undressed," he snorted, cutting up his sausages. "Oh don't look at me like that Forester, I'm sure Teddy appreciated getting flashes of your thigh beneath your bathrobe."

"I swear to Helga if you don't keep your mouth -" The floo cut me off.

Surprised and startled, my eyes cut to floo as to my utter bewilderment, Teddy stepped out of the fireplace. My eyes shot to James knowing without a shadow of a doubt that he was behind it - Teddy simply wasn't the sort of person to turn up to my house uninvited. James, the devious bastard, didn't even try to refute the allegations. Rather, he prepared to greet his godbrother.

But before he even approached Teddy, he leaned in to whisper, "I told him to come for breakfast."

James swanned off before I could say anything. Eyes narrowed on his back, I seriously rethought my choice in friends as James headed off to greet his godbrother. Only when I looked to Teddy did my face straighten out into a small bashful smile that I tried to hide behind a mouthful of food. I quickly came to regret my decision.

Approaching the table, Teddy spoke apologetically, "I didn't come to intrude, I just needed to give James his wand back. I took it from him last night so he wouldn't do anything stupid."

Trapped with a mouthful of food, I forcefully swallowed it - almost choking - but regaining myself. Clearing my throat, I just managed, "That's a smart decision."

"Oh Teddy, you're so smart," James mumbled under his breath, taking his seat across from me once more.

Without looking away from Teddy, I fiercely kicked James under the table. This time he audibly grumbled. Struggling for something to say, and doing my very best not to fidget with my appearance that I knew was too unkempt for this time in the morning, I silently gestured for the empty seat.

"You should join us," I said, reaching for my coffee and finally looking away from him. "Although, I should warn you that James cooked so the sausages and hashbrowns are a little burned."

"Well done," James corrected without looking up from his plate.

Even as he drew the chair out from the table, Teddy said, "If it had been you doing the cooking, I wouldn't have to hesitate.."

All my efforts to hold back my own embarrassment were pointless; his simple remark had heat rushing to my cheeks. Averting my eyes and trying to drown myself in my coffee mug, I ignored the way James snickered his amusement. I really needed to get a better friend.

* * *

After a long, long shift at the hospital where I'd had to work overtime, the very last thing I wanted to hear was the floo activating. Especially when I'd just come home from work and was preparing to shrug out of my uniform. I'd only managed to take off my shoes when the floo sounded and knowing exactly who it was and hoping that it just wasn't a bar fight this time, I turned to face the floo with a curse on my tongue. Only, the sight of the man coming out of the fireplace had the curse dying on my tongue. It had rational thought dying in my mind as well.

Teddy, alone and without James who so usually was leaning against his shoulder, recovering from whatever had injured him, had me reeling. Planting my feet firmly on the ground and looking around the room, I did a quick scan to make sure that I wasn't making a whole fool of myself this time around. At least today he'd appeared before I could begin shedding my clothes around the house.

"I thought you'd be relaxed by now," he said, the words sounding like an apology as he walked into the room. Not that he moved far from the fireplace. "I didn't want to disturb you so soon after coming home from work."

"I had to work overtime," I explained, taking my hair out of the bun I'd had my hair in for hours. Massaging away the sore point, I rambled, "There was an explosion in a potions lab and everyone had to stay to handle the situation."

"Being a Healer's intense," he said with a low whistle. "But you're good at it - exceptional."

"Oh no." Shaking my head bashfully, I tried to insist otherwise.

"I mean it; I've seen you patching James up countless times."

"Speaking of James?" I trailed off meaningfully.

"He's not hurt," Teddy said hurriedly as if wanting to cut short my concern. "He's not hurt, I just wanted to talk."

"To talk?" I repeated, cursing myself internally and wondering why it sounded like I'd lost all of my intellect. "To me?"

"Yeah." A teasing smile curled at his lips. "Am I intruding?"

"No, not at all." Glancing towards my bedroom, I said quickly, "Let me just change into something more comfortable. I'll be quick and -"

Leaving Teddy behind in the front room, I hurried away from him and towards my bedroom. As I walked away, I commended myself for not melting into a puddle at the sight of him. If I was still that girl that had met him in first year, meeting the Head Boy for the first time and developing a persistent crush on him, I'd have lost my mind. I'd have turned into a bumbling mess, unable to speak a single word. But I'd grown older, and so had he, and I could at least stand in front of him now and actually carry out a conversation. I'd certainly had enough practise at it now.

Being friends with James, and with Teddy being his favourite person, I found my life consisting of too much Teddy for my poor heart to handle. It was because of James that I could at least act like a normal human being around him but I wondered if it was because of James that I still harboured feelings for him. James was always singing his praises and they said you became more like your friend - perhaps I'd inherited the neverending devotion James had for the people he loved.

"You can take your time," Teddy called out from the front room, having no idea that I was getting changed far quicker than I thought possible.

Once I had changed into comfortable clothes, I stopped in the doorway. I remained there for a long moment, counting down from thirty in my head so it didn't seem like I'd rushed to join him and so I didn't seem winded when I returned to his side. Finally reaching zero, and waiting for an extra ten seconds, I returned to the front room where I found Teddy nowhere in sight.

Before I could entertain the ridiculous thought that he'd left without saying a word, he called out from the kitchen, "I'm in here."

Walking into the kitchen, I found Teddy making some tea and regarded him with mild surprise. Teddy Lupin in my kitchen and making me tea was something that I never thought would happen. Never ever. If someone told me that one day, after having left Hogwarts for four years I'd see this scene, I'd have told you that Helga herself would sooner resurrect herself to snog Salazar Slytherin in the middle of the Great Hall.

"I hope you don't mind," Teddy started, bringing me from my ludicrous thoughts, "I've been here often enough to know how you like your tea."

"Oh, it's fine," I assured him, moving around Teddy and watching in silence as he made the tea. "Make yourself at home."

"I was certain you'd say that," he confessed with a smile that had butterflies erupting in my stomach. How was it that here I stood in front of him, a woman of 22 years of age, and he still made me feel like that 14-year-old who, after staying with James for the summer, stumbled upon Teddy who'd come home from a summer abroad, golden and sunkissed. "Forester."

Realising that he'd been trying to talk to me, I cleared my throat and apologised, "Sorry, my mind wandered for a bit."

"I'm sure it's difficult to leave hospital work behind when you get home," he said, thankfully not thinking I was an idiot. Extending my tea towards me, he gestured to the box beside the breadbin, "To make up for how much we've inconvenienced you."

"You haven't inconvenienced me, James has been the one inconveniencing me" I insisted as I opened up the box, looking in surprise to him when I found the box full of miniature Bakewell tarts. "How -"

"I remembered you saying they were your favourite " he shrugged as if it was nothing. And yet, I couldn't remember having told him recently. As if he could see me coming up blank, he said, "You mentioned them that time we both stayed at the Potters. You must've been in your fifth year. I wasn't sure if they were still your favourite and -"

"They are," I assured him, touched and still reeling that he remembered. He cared enough to remember? Or had it been just something he'd asked James and I was getting ahead of myself?

Coming closer to me and looking down at me as if his chest wasn't touching my shoulder, he reached across me to help himself to a tart, he explained, "I know you love the icing on the ones from the bakery run by -"

"Fred's wife," I finished for him, snagging one for myself and hurrying away from him.

I put some distance between the pair of us, feeling like I could breathe easier. Hoping to conceal my reaction to his presence, I bit into the tart and even the perfect sweetness of the tart couldn't distract me from the way Teddy was looking at me. Like he knew - like he might even …

Averting my eyes and turning my back to him, I walked into the front room, knowing that Teddy would follow after me. Merlin, where the hell was James when I needed him to distract his godbrother. Actually, perhaps it was better he wasn't here. He would've made the whole thing worse.

When he joined me, with both our mugs in his hand and the box of tarts following after him, Teddy gave me my tea with an amused smile. I just couldn't shake the idea that he knew. If he knew, if he really knew, then I'd die of mortification.

"The Potions lab explosion," Teddy started, thankfully no longer looking at me like he wanted to tease me, "how did you cope with that?"

* * *

Having completed my pre-lunch rounds of my patients, I consulted the charts in my hands, checking off the list of medication and confirming which patients had taken their medication. Making notes as I went, I scribbled some comments on the sides of the patient's charts as I walked through the hallway. By now I'd gotten so good at it that I perfected the art of surveying the hallway even whilst my head was bowed towards the chart, not wanting to run into anyone or block the path of an oncoming patient bed that was being transported in the case of an emergency.

Approaching the reception of the cardiology ward I was stationed at for the day, I leaned the clipboard on the counter and signed my surname. Flicking between the papers and giving them a final look over, I was satisfied that I hadn't missed anything out.

Turning to the expectant medi-wizard sitting behind the counter, I greeted him with a tired smile, "Medi-wizard Kreink."

"Healer Forester," he greeted back, returning the smile with one that didn't show the fatigue of a person who was part way through their long shift. Holding a hand out, he accepted the notes from me and looked it over with fresh eyes. Reaching the final page, he sighed, "The patient in bed 20 isn't taking their medication?"

"No, and I think we might need to talk to one of the head healers. His mother is right there but she shows no sign of encouraging him to take the medication." With an exhausted sigh, I propped my crossed arms on the counter, and asked hopefully, "There's nothing important for me to do right? I can head out for lunch."

"Oh." Just the way he'd said the single word had me trying not to deflate and melt into a puddle where I stood. Instead, I steeled my spine and met Kreink's eyes, silently begging that he didn't finish his sentence. Not when I'd spent my entire shift on my feet and running around; I'd even had to skip my break. Did I really have to give up or even put off my lunch? "There's a VIP patient who wants to see you."

"VIP patient?" I repeated, gritting my teeth and knowing exactly who this VIP patient was. Good Helga, I really needed to rethink my friends. "I thought it was hospital policy that the VIP patients were to be treated like regular patients. Since when have regular patients had the ability to pick and choose their Healers?"

"I'm aware of that," Kreink started steadily if a little impatient, "But right now he's occupying a hospital bed that we would rather have empty in the chance that an emergency patient comes in."

"Alright, alright," sighing again, I straightened up and adjusted my robes. Checking that my wand was in my pocket, I reassured Kreink, "I'll tend to him, which room?"

Rattling off the room number like it had been echoing around his head, Kreink sent me on my way. As I walked out of the cardiology ward and toward the other side of the hospital, I complained internally about how demanding James had gotten. He really was too much now, interfering with my work life and using his name to pick and choose who tended to him. Merlin's beard, if he had turned up to the hospital and was wasting important Healer time on a splinter like last time then I was going to kill him. Well, I could understand the splinter because it had been from his broom and the magic woven through the wood of the broom could have affected him in a dangerous way. But still - it had been a splinter.

Finally reaching the right room, I paused outside the door and took a moment to get over my annoyance which, if the way other Healers were ducking out my way, was all too obvious. Breathing in deeply and releasing it in a slow breath, I pushed the door open and instantly searched James and found him sitting on the bed, swinging his legs like he was a damned child.

Shaking my head with despair, I shut the door behind me and declared, "You're not injured."

"Nope." He popped the p as if it was something to be proud of. It was just too much.

Approaching the bed and planning to hit him over the head - except, maybe I wouldn't because it would land me in trouble - I would certainly give him a tongue lashing. Like he didn't know what was going to happen to him, although he clearly did know, James's smile only widened.

"James Sirius Potter, you are an absolutely spoiled brat. You cannot do this - this is my place of work and it's a hospital," I seethed, "My time is reserved saving people's lives. Do you think this is a joke?"

"You're supposed to be on your lunch break now," he said with an innocent smile and before I could really get started and lay into him more, he leaned down to pick up the bag on the floor.

My eyes narrowed, watching him as he drew in a sharp breath through his nose, the way I knew he did whenever he was in pain. Still, I held my silence, watching as James strained to lift the bag that was normally nothing given how much training he put his body through. Putting the bag on the bed, he reached inside and drew out two footlong sandwiches from my favourite shop down the road. Holding one out for me and helping himself to the other, James fished out to bottles of juice with his mouthful. Opening the bottle of apple and raspberry juice, James held it out to me and I accepted it gratefully.

Unwrapping my sandwich, I took a small bite and let my eyes flicker over James once more, cataloguing the way he was sitting. Finishing the mouthful, I washed it down with some juice and wiped my hands clear of crumbs.

Putting the sandwich and bottle aside, I approached James who eyed me suspiciously. "Lift your shirt, Potter."

He snorted around his sandwich, not even bothering to swallow as he talked with his mouthful, teasing, "What if Teddy finds out?"

"Shut up and listen to me." Crossing my arms when James still refused to cooperate, I reminded him, "Right now, you're my patient and I'm your Healer so lift your shirt."

I made to approach James and James, knowing that I wouldn't give him the same treatment I gave to the usual patients and that I would manhandle him if I had to, he conceded. Lingering back, I watched closely as he tried to hide the pain his motions caused as he struggled to lift his shirt. Eventually, growing tired of watching James cause himself unnecessary pain, I helped him out of the shirt and set it aside.

Summoning a stool to the bedside, I settled down in front of him and took a good look at the gash on his lower abdomen. Sucking in a deep breath between my teeth, I pressed my fingers to the area around the wound and knew it needed stitching.

"You crashed your broom," I said, not needing him to tell me as I summoned everything I needed. "I don't want to know how or where, but something's pierced through your skin."

"It did." James leaned back on his hands, watching as I worked on cleaning his wound. He always claimed to find it interesting, which really shouldn't have been so interesting to someone that had to patched up so often.

"And you didn't even see the team Healer," I complained under my breath, leaning closer to him to make sure I did a good job. "Likely because you have something you need to tell me about - so get a move on already, Potter."

"Rumour has it Teddy left your house at 2 am last night." Looking up at him with narrowed eyes, I lifted my wand warningly, "Ok, so it wasn't a rumour. Teddy told me. So what happened?"

"We talked," I said truthfully, peeking up at James and watching him make a face that I knew wasn't caused by me stitching him up.

"Teddy said the same thing." James shook his head, sighing as I bandaged the wound to help him keep it dry. "I was hoping you'd say something juicier."

Feeling vindictive, I poked him gently near where he was hurt as I pushed away from the bed, letting the wheels on the stool take me away from him. James gave a yelp of pain, complaining about my treatment of him as I washed and cleaned my hands.

Sitting back on the stool, I pushed myself back to his side as James put his shirt back on. Reaching over for my sandwich, I finally began to eat and entertained James with rolled eyes as he started, "You know if you paid a bit of attention to Teddy then this would be all over."

"I couldn't be paying him any more attention," I grumbled, picking out a gherkin slice from my sandwich and eating it whole.

James gave an irritated scoff. "If you actually paid him real attention to his reaction, then I wouldn't be suffering in the middle like this."

"Yeah, you're the one suffering."

After dealing with James and sending him away, I returned to the cardiology ward, checking in with Kreink who expressed his gratitude that I dealt with the VIP customer. If only he knew that the VIP was in fact a spoiled brat who'd taken up my time when in fact he could have easily been tended to by his team Healer but his need to satisfy his own curiosity had brought him all the way to St Mungos. Lingering by the reception, I contemplated taking the lunch break that I'd had to push aside in order to tend to James but I'd already had my lunch and -

Alarms blared through the hospital, causing all the medical staff to still. Upon beginning to work at St Mungos we'd been trained to know the meanings behind various alarms and this one meant that there was a dangerous situation brewing somewhere. The alarm sounded twice, followed by an emergency message called out through the hospital that a patient who refused to accept treatment had become aggressive and was holding a Healer captive. Eyes wide and heart beating in my chest, I exchanged a look with Kreink as the message continued that the problem was in the outpatient ward. We all knew our protocol - those Healers that were free on the outpatient ward alone were to tend to the issue, no one else. The rest of us were to continue treatment and tending to our patients. Patients who were no doubt growing more stressed.

The message ended, and I knew that dozens of Healers would be rushing to tend to the situation. But I couldn't be one of them.

"Helga," I breathed out shakily, hoping that in a matter of minutes a second message would follow through, letting us all know that the situation had been handled. For now, I turned to Kreink and spoke softly, trying not to appear scared because Helga, I was terrified, "I think I'm going to do a round of the ward."

"It's not your turn -"

"I don't plan to deliver treatment," I assured the Medi-Wizard, refusing to step on any of my colleague's toes. "Some of the patients are likely to be spooked, they might need to just have someone to talk to."

Without waiting for permission, I headed into the ward and set about visiting each room and stopping by each bed. Methodically, I asked if each patient and sometimes their guardian, if they were alright and explaining (and lying) that we'd had confirmation that the situation was handled and that if they needed to talk, I was free to talk. For the most part, no one needed to talk, they were reassured by my words and were soothed. There was however, the occasional patient who needed me to sit by their bedside and to steadily explain the situation and reassure them that this was a surprisingly regular occurrence but we had all our training to deal with it. And sure enough, by the time I had completed my rounds and after a too long duration of time passed, another message sounded that the situation had been handled.

The patients were pleased, reassured and could relax now. But not the staff. As the staff passed each other in the corridor, we exchanged looks; it took too long for the situation to be handled. There was something more, something that couldn't be broadcast through the hospital. We would find out soon enough, through the murmurs and whispers that would only be passed between the staff. The patients, and certainly the newspapers who likely would find out and report on the situation, would never find out.

Returning once more to visit Kreink, I knew from his pale pallor that word had reached him. Holding my hands together to steady myself, I reached the counter. Without needing me to ask, he read the question in my eyes and answered instantly, he confessed that the Healer who had been captured had actually been attacked and was right now being tended to in the intensive care unit by the very colleagues who rushed to their aid. For now, the patient had been taken into treatment and upon recovering, would be handed to the Aurors on release for attacking a Healer.

"Good Helga," I groaned, dropping my head into my hands; days like this made me want to leave this line of work. Part of me wanted to ask after the identity of the Healer but the larger part of me, the coward inside me knew that if I happened to know the person, then my worry would be much worse and it would affect how I carried myself for the rest of the shift.

"You haven't had your lunch break yet," Kreink started, making me lift my head. It was a lunch break I hadn't planned on taking, and yet now, I needed it just to get a better handle of my nerves before I went back to work. "And you've got a visitor, anyway."

"A visitor?" I repeated, finally lifting my head and following Kreink's gesture to find a hesitant Teddy standing at the very entry of the ward. Standing up straight and not even having it in me to try to fix my appearance, I made my way slowly towards him, "Visitors aren't supposed to be here."

"They let me in when I said I had to see you," he said eventually, a deep frown pulling at his face. His eyes raked over me, and I swore I saw him lift his hands as if to reach out to me. "They said that a Healer had been attacked and -"

"How did word get out so fast?" I wondered, with a tired sigh. Rubbing my hands over my face, I realised that Teddy was still looking at me, not quite showing much of a reaction to my words, "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check on you," he said eventually, reaching out a hand and fingering a strand of hair that had come untucked from my ponytail. It was then, like a veil had been lifted, that I really studied Teddy for the first time - paying him the attention that James wanted me to. "I'm glad you're alright. Merlin, I'm glad."

"You'd be surprised how often something like this happened," I said softly, hoping it would reassure him.

It didn't. The furrow in his brow deepened, "That's not good."

"Teddy?"

"Sorry." He shook his head, easing his expression but still appearing unsettled, "You haven't had your lunch break yet, right? Let's head out."

"Oh. Ok."

Nodding and gesturing for him to lead the way, I followed after him. I waited until we got out of the ward, turning to him and confessing in a whisper, "Just a warning, I've already had lunch so I'm full."

"That's alright," he assured me, not even questioning when I got to eat my lunch without having taken a lunch break. He caught my nearest hand, holding it steady in his and until then, I hadn't realised it had been shaking so badly. Holding my hand close, he rubbed the back of it with his thumb soothingly, assuring me steadily, "We can get tea or something."

It was a simple statement. And yet, to my ears, it sounded like he was assuring me that everything would be alright.

* * *

For all the rubbish that I put up with because James was a part of my life, being invited around the Burrow certainly made up for it. The homemade food, that was usually packed away into containers and sent away with me when I left for the day, made up for all the shit that James brought into my life. The Weasley matriarch, for all the years I knew her, still couldn't wrap her mind around the long hours I worked and always expressed her concern about healthy eating. She had long since adopted me as one of her grandchildren and as one of her grandchildren, I was expected to turn up to 'family meals' Which, given the amount of family she had, made for an extremely packed home. If I happened to miss too many in a row, I could expect myself to find a letter at home trying to strong-arm me into appearing or even to find James ready to kidnap me.

Despite it all, despite all the years I'd gone through it, I hadn't expected to find James waiting for me in my home when I came back from the graveyard shift. He had the patience to wait until I'd showered and changed out of my uniform, he'd grabbed me by the arm even before I'd managed to dry my hair and was corralling me into my fireplace.

Tumbling out of the other side without so much as a second to prepare myself, my hands were out in front of me to brace myself against the floor that I just knew I would land on. To my immense relief, I instead stumbled into someone and straightening up, I found myself looking into Hugo's grinning face.

"Watch yourself, Forester," he said with a laugh, letting go of me when I found my stability. Standing tall, I shot a glare at James as he followed me through the fireplace with a satisfied smirk. Looking between us, Hugo simply nodded, "Ah, I get it. I'm going to tell grandma that you're here. Hopefully, she gives you some time before finding you."

"Hopefully," I echoed, smiling at Hugo and waiting until he walked out of earshot. Turning on my heels, I dropped my smile and levelled James an unimpressed look; he hadn't let me speak a single word or even protest whilst I'd been home. Now, even if we were in his grandmother's home, I wasn't going to be quiet, "What in Helga's name do you think you're doing Potter? I haven't missed the last enough of these to warrant you coming and abducting me. What's going on?"

"It's a barbecue," he said simply as if that explained anything.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I eyed him steadily as James grabbed me by the shoulders, turned me, and forcefully steered me towards the garden where the majority of his family were. I planted my feet, trying to drag them and stop him until he gave me some sort of truthful explanation about what was going on, but my efforts did absolutely nothing to deter him. I soon found myself standing out in the garden, surrounded by members of James's family.

Beside my ear, James laughed sounding far too pleased with himself. Merlin, that sound was unnerving. "Teddy is going to be pissed."

Surprised and confused, I turned to face James but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were instead focused on one of the multiple barbecues that had been set up to cook enough food for the extended Weasley family. Rather, his eyes were lingering on the barbecue that Teddy was manning. And I hated it, but my eyes lingered on Victoire who stood at his side, laughing and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Victoire's back," I said faintly, studying the pair. They certainly made a gorgeous couple - they always had.

"Oh - don't worry about that."

Except how could I not? Shaking my head, and drawing away from James, I forced myself to smile. Not that it fooled James if the way he was watching me was any indication. "Last I heard, she was studying in France?"

"Summer holiday," James said simply and before I could ask anything, to feign some sort of interest in what she was studying, James was lifting his hand and ushering someone over.

And just like that, without giving me that chance to say something, I was embraced by the Weasley matriarch. Wrapping my arms around her and listening as she listed off a quick, rambled list of questions that I couldn't possibly answer, I simply drew back. She held me at arm's length, looking over me and I could see from her downturned lips that she thought I wasn't taking care of myself. Releasing me, she fingered a damp tendril of hair and recited a gentle spell that had my hair drying.

Before I could speak a word, she looped my arm through hers and was leading me further into the garden, "There's someone I want to introduce you to."

It was like the final puzzle piece fell into place. Casting James a scowl from over my shoulder, I hissed, "Matchmaking, really?"

James just shrugged helplessly, finding himself holding a plate of burgers and being pushed towards an unmanned barbecue. With James put to work and with Mrs Weasley calling my name, I turned back to her and had to give her a smile even though I wanted to run away. I should have seen it coming eventually - she had tried throughout all the years I knew her to pair me off with her grandsons. I should've known that once she went through all her grandsons that she would look elsewhere. But, all the time that had gone by without any such attempts had lulled me into a false sense of security.

Resigning myself to my fate, I found myself marched towards the person I know realised was the only strange face in the crowd of people. This stranger, standing a little taller than me, almost blended into the family as if he was a member of the family. When we were close enough, Mrs Weasley commandeered the conversation, introducing us both and I offered the stranger - Donovan Temple, a potioneer as introduced by Mrs Weasley - a smile that he returned.

Without a word, Mrs Weasley was disappearing and Mr Temple gestured to one of the nearby garden chairs, motioning for me to take a seat. Joining him, I wondered what to say or even if I wanted to say anything. But I knew I had to say something or else Mrs Weasley would be back and ensuring I got to know the man - despite her age, she still had all her faculties.

If only she knew that I didn't want to talk to Mr Temple, I'd much rather talk to someone else - the same someone else I was currently making silent comparisons with. Mr Temple was shorter, but with broader shoulders and he was certainly more clean-cut; black hair rather than turquoise, no earring or even tattoo to be seen. I risked a glance at Teddy from the corner of my eye, realising to my horror that he was looking at us. Good Helga, this was going downhill.

My eyes flickered to Mrs Weasley, realising she was gearing up to approach us and if only to stop her from coming over here, I shifted in my seat to face Mr Temple who I realised had been talking. At least he hadn't asked me a question and didn't notice that I wasn't paying him any attention.

Clearing my throat, I finally asked, "What potion are you working on?"

"I think you'll appreciate it," he confessed, sounding excited for the first time because he was discussing his work, "my lab is working on a potion where patients can self medicate Spattergroit without needing to see a Healer."

"That's ridiculous!" I cut in forcefully, making him jolt. He turned to me with wide eyes. "They need to see a Healer in order to be correctly diagnosed because it's easy to get it misdiagnosed with early-stage manageable pox. The two are treated differently and treating a case of pox with potions used to treat Spattergroit will cause severe damage requiring hospitalisation."

"It won't," he confessed as if he was the health professional. "The combination of ingredients in the potion should be mild enough without needing oversight of a Healer. The potion so far includes Agrippa, flying seahorse, granian hair -"

"The combination of which is illegal in Europe," I cut shortly, thinking that Mrs Weasley wasn't the matchmaker she believed herself to be. "Potions sold and used in Europe must follow strict regulations and there are certain ingredients that cannot be combined because they make the potion volatile and unruly. You cannot sell a potion, especially a medical potion that has a combination of Agrippa and granian hair the health board will not take the risk of possible consequences."

"Money can -"

"No amount of money is worth risking human life," I said simply, realising that our conversation was gathering interest from those around us. I was fairly certain that Mrs Weasley was despairing, but I didn't care.

"Well," Mr Temple breathed out a huff, "we have no intention to sell in Europe. The Potion will be marketed in the States where they don't have these regulations and -"

"Then more fool them," I said simply, "all the research is there and if their health board allows you to market your Potion, you should prepare yourself to face lawsuits from multiple buyers who fall severely ill."

Standing and refusing to entertain the conversation any longer, my eyes met James's as he snickered, paying no interest to the food he was supposed to be cooking. His eyes were the least of my concerns. It seemed we'd attracted quite a bit of attention. Clearing my throat and looking for an escape, I headed towards the house until there was a call of my name. Glancing over my shoulder, I found Teddy having passed his tongs onto Victoire and jogging towards me.

"So… he's not prince charming then?" he asked, dropping into step beside me.

"More like a money-hungry fool," I confessed with a shake of my head. "Who is he acquainted with anyway? Why is he here?"

"Victoire." At Teddy's confession, I risked a glance at his face, trying to catalogue his reaction to see how he felt about them being acquainted. "They know each other in France - dating on the down-low."

"Oh." I studied Teddy closely again, starting when he reached out to grab my hand. He drew me behind him towards the pond where no one stood. "How do you feel about that?"

"They suit," he said simply, "even if he is a bit of a tosser. I can't believe that Mrs Weasley tried to get you two together."

"I'm not surprised," I confessed with a shrug, pulling my hand away from his. Crouching down in front of the pond, I pretended to study the frog nearest to me as it hopped from one lily pad to the other. "She's tried to set me up often. Every time I'm not in a relationship, she's tried to set me up every suitable male within her vicinity."

"Not every suitable male," Teddy said abruptly. I glanced up at him, eyes squinted against the glare of the sun, "She never tried to set you up with me."

"Well, I guess she always assumed you were Victoire's." Teddy crouched down next to me, easing the strain in my neck so I didn't have to look up at him. He held my eyes, watching me from behind shielded eyes that hardened when I admitted, "I've always assumed you were Victoire's."

"I'm not Victoire's." He scoffed, following me as I reached out my hand towards the pond, to trace my fingertips across the surface of the water. He caught my hand before I could, taking me by surprise and bringing my attention back to him. "Don't look away, Forester. I'm not Victoire's. I'm my own."

The rest was there, written in his eyes but I couldn't bring myself to look further. Not yet. Not when his family were hovering behind us, likely listening in. I understood and Merlin, it freaked the hell out of me, because how could he even -

And yet, I couldn't freak out like I wanted to, not when there were so many listening eyes. I'd have to accost James and freak out alone in front of him first before I let myself even think any futher.

"I'm my own," he repeated once more, "But - but I wouldn't mind being yours."

"I - what?"

"Eventually, at least." Teddy ducked his head then and for the first time in a long time, his hair tinged pink. I marvelled at him; for years now I knew he'd had perfect control over his metamorphmagic abilities, and yet, here his control was slipping. "Is that alright?"

Unable to stop myself, I reached out to touch his hair, watching as the pink deepened and bloomed. Lifting his head, Teddy watched me steadily as I said, "Let's maybe go on a date first? How does that sound?"

"Perfect. It sounds perfect."


	2. Epilogue: 4 Years Later

4 YEARS LATER

The more experienced Healers lied - they claimed that the longer you worked in the Hospital, the less draining each shift was. They claimed that experience helped and you built upon your stamina with each shift. Even now, if I could, I would have made them stand up in front of me in a line and called them each a liar to their face. It didn't get easier. Helga, I was certain that things were getting harder - I certainly had more responsibilities and I was given more patients to handle.

A lot had changed in the few years, with my work hours having stabilised more and especially since I'd moved in with Teddy. There were good things about dating a man 6 years older than you - sometimes, when I just wanted to abandon responsibilities for a while, I knew he would pick up the slack for a few days whilst I recovered from a draining work week. And in turn, when life got too much for him, I was there to help him. I couldn't cook a meal that was even half as good as the ones that Teddy could make, but he ate everything anyway. Helga, if that didn't make me love him more.

"Angel?" Teddy called out, hearing my keys in the front door as I returned home. The pet name brought a smile to my face, even as I kicked off my shoes - he was in one of those moods. "Are you home?"

"It's a ghost," I called back, hearing him scoff amusedly as I set my bags down in front of the door. I would tidy it all up - because, contrary to his outward appearances, he was a neat freak.

"I'm in the kitchen."

Excited for what he was cooking, I took sock clad steps towards the kitchen and walked inside, not caring that I was a state. I found Teddy in front of the stove, working at something in the pan. Coming up behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist, laughing against his back when he jumped in surprise.

"How much longer?" I grumbled, pressing a kiss through his top.

"Are you hungry?" he teased, releasing the spoon he was stirring and rubbing his hands soothingly up and down my forearms.

"Starving." Releasing Teddy, I stepped back and let him move away. He took me with him, bringing me a short distance away from the heat of the stove and leaning against the counter, bracing me against his chest. Content, I smiled tiredly up at him as I confessed, "I only managed half a sandwich at lunch before an emergency patient was brought in."

Frowning, and looking like he wanted to say something, and I already knew exactly what he was going to say, Teddy leaned down to drop a kiss to my forehead. With a heavy sigh, he released me, acting dramatically as if it hurt to remove his arms from around me.

"Go and freshen up." He gestured to the cooker, "This is going to be a while."

Not needing to be told twice, I left him in the kitchen with another kiss to his expectant lips. Returning to the front door, I picked up my bags and carried them to Teddy's study and put them in the corner of the room where they belonged. Popping into the bathroom on the way to our bedroom, I ran the bathwater in preparation.

Walking into our bedroom, I chose everything I needed, laying them on the bed before I walked back into the bathroom. Turning the water off, I threw in some of the bath salts (Teddy's, even if he liked to claim they were mine). Stripping out of my clothes and shoving them into the laundry basket, I sunk into the tub, letting the hot water relax the deep ache that had settled into my bones. Reaching up to untie my hair from the bun, I chucked the hair tie into the sink and let out a content sigh. The water hot, - scalding, far too hot to share a bath Teddy would claim - was just what I'd needed.

Waiting until my fingers had pruned, I reluctantly set about washing and cleaning myself. Standing from the bath, I bound my hair in a towel and dried my body, moisturising before slipping into my bathrobe. Draining the water from the tub and cleaning the bath with a softly spoke spell, I slipped my feet into my slippers and made my way back to our bedroom. Finding Teddy sitting on the bed, I offered him a relaxed smile, preparing to walk around him to get to my vanity.

He caught my hand on the way passed him, holding it steadily and pulling me down beside him. Laughing and without a struggle, I went to his side, falling on top of the clothes I had set aside and crumpling them under my weight. I was so relaxed, and looking forward to our first real day off in the longest time, I let Teddy manoeuvre me as he wanted until I was sitting cross-legged with my back to him.

"What are you doing?" I mock complained, feeling him reach up to remove the towel from my hair. He was careful, slowing his motions when I made a sound of pain when he accidentally tugged at my hair.

"Sorry," he apologised, pressing a kiss to my shoulder and finally got my hair free of the towel. He set about slowly, methodically drying my hair, rubbing it softly with the towel. All complaints of my hair turning static died down as I closed my eyes, rapidly approaching sleep under his attention.

"Not that I don't like this," I started softly when Teddy used a spell to finish drying my hair. Summoning my hairbrush, he teased out the tangles, "but why?"

"Just because." Knowing it was something more, I caught the hairbrush, snagging it from his hands. Taking it from him and setting it aside, I turned to face him, adjusting my bathrobe across my lap.

"Teddy?"

"I like seeing you like this," he said simply, shrugging slightly. "You're more vulnerable, more open. Not so unapproachable."

"Unapproachable?" I repeated, shocked.

"Maybe not unapproachable - but it was hard for me to approach you." Teddy held my eyes, even when I reached out to cradle his face in my hands. Smiling softly, he admitted tentatively, "I was too busy feel like a pervert."

"A pervert?"

"There's a whole six years between us," he said as if I didn't know it. Frowning, he confessed, "Merlin, James even took me aside to have a conversation with me when we started getting serious - that there might be a difference there in our lives and -"

"Well that's your problem," I declared, crawling into his lap. When his frown persisted, I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding his eyes, "Why in Helga's name would you be listening to James about this? I mean yeah, you're older than me but it's not like you're that much older than me."

"- I just like seeing you like this. Everyone gets to see you as a Healer, very few people get to see the aftermath, to see you shed that persona." His arms circled my waist, drawing me closer to him and kissing me.

Before I could draw back to tease him about being soft, he deepened the kiss, bringing a single hand to my hair to anchor me close to him. Neither of us wanted to part, not after we'd both spent long working hours and had rarely seen each other -

The oven beeped, making me jostle away from him. Groaning his complaints against my neck, Teddy lifted me off his lap and prepared to make his way back to the kitchen.

"Hurry up and get dressed," he complained, on his way out of the room, like he was going to complain to the oven for daring to interrupt. I tried not to giggle, and he thought he was too much of an old man for me.


End file.
